Monday, November 22, 2010

Humbled

Hi Knitters,

I hope this day finds you well and happy. I had a whirlwind week and weekend just past. I will fill you in on the happenings in more detail very soon. One thing to share today is that I have learned how to spin! Well, I have learned a little bit about how to spin.

The skeins you see are my first meager attempts at spinning singles and then plying them together. Although I am usually a quick study when it comes to things of a crafty sort this seems not to be the case with the spinning. It is not a quick study but a long study involving lots and lots of practice and patience.

Therefore I am humbled. I will continue to work hard on the art of spinning because I have fallen in love with everything about it. I have even found myself thinking about it as I try to fall asleep at night and then I have to remind myself to stop thinking about it so I am able to fall asleep at night. Silly girl.

The gorgeous natural roving was gifted to me by my friend Dianne of Sheep Dreams. A big box of roving just arrived on my doorstep one day. I had mentioned one time that I was planning on learning to spin. You should really read Dianne's blog if you don't already as she is a talented and interesting one. Click here for Sheep Dreams.

Liz at the Sow's Ear gave me a lesson on how to use a wheel and the very basic elements of spinning. Liz is an excellent teacher! She teaches knitting and spinning classes and kids knitting classes and she is a gem.

When I was having a lot of trouble with my wheel my friend Sara met me at the Sow's Ear and fixed my troubles right away. I sat and watched her spin for a bit and learned so much in a short period of time. Thank you, dear Sara. TC came with me and downed a hot chocolate and a big chocolate cupcake (yes, the Sow's Ear has a bakery/coffee shop, too) while Sara helped me. Oh, to be eleven....

I have some really cool and generous friends:)

I also had a most wonderful sort of huge surprise happen to me last week. I need to do a full and proper post on this event and I will. It will take quite a bit of time and thinking so I want to do it justice. It was an act of kindness and generosity that has touched me in a way that I've never experienced before. This surprise involves knitting, internationally located knitters, Spud & Chloë, and lots of love and patience and more.

I will be back with more during this appropriate week of thanks and giving. Here's to everyone having a good start to the week at hand.

16 comments:

Congrats on your first singles!! Spinning humbles me, too, so I know how you feel. When I get stuck, I love surfing YouTube for demos. Sometimes I just have to see someone else drafting before it sticks. Good luck!

I'd LOVE to learn to spin and I've been so tempted lately to just jump in, buy a spindle and some roving and go to town...but with so much on my plate right now I figure it's best to just keep going on what I've got until things calm down a little. Maybe next summer....

Hi Susan,Just wanted to let you know that the link for the Sheep Dreams blog may be incorrect. The link takes you to: http://sheepdreams.blogspot.com/, which turned out to be some fairly explicit ranting. I think the link you want is this: http://sheepdreams-dianne.blogspot.com/ which looks much more like a blog you would recommend. Just thought you should know!

~ Paula

ps - I love your blog and check it every chance I get. Thanks for the amazing information and patterns. I'm a big fan!

Congratulations! Spinning yarn from loose fiber is the single most satisfying form of art creation I have ever done. And I've done a lot. It'll come to you pretty quickly in simple form. And then the more you learn the more overwhelmed you will be by the complexity of fiber, twist, and purpose. Enjoy! Its like having a new baby every time I finish a new skein (without the recovery, diapers, or college tuition). :)

I don't know one thing about spinning but I think your first attempts look pretty amazing, and given how talented you are in so many other way, I am sure you will grasp this soon too. Then you will continue to amaze us with your incredible talent.

I'm also looking forward to reading about the surprise that happened to you. Don't keep us in suspense too long.

Love the Twister pattern, too. Maybe when I learn a little more about knitting, I'll give it a try.

Can't wait to see what you make with this yarn! Don't worry you will learn and it will be amazing and then you will want to make a messy skein for some project and you won't be able to do it because they just come out too perfect each time.

Congrats on the new spinning!!! I will be taking a 8 week spinning class at my LYS soon and am super excited. I am also looking at an Ashford wheel and look forward to you future posts on how you are liking yours. I love your blog and check it daily. Can't wait for the upcoming posts.

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